Hi Jules,
Is there any way you could work to get the Intuniv covered by insurance? (I'm sure you've thought of this already).
Regarding counseling -- lots of our kids can't respond to counseling until they are on medications which allow their brains to learn (as you know). You know your son best -- follow your gut. It's easy for someone else to say counseling, easy for someone else to say medications. You sound like you already know quite well what your son needs, and you've been around the block with him too.
My younger son is on Intuniv -- it has helped him. I let the rx slip for a couple days recently, and i could really tell the difference. It does take awhile to see results, purportedly -- we slowly titrated up to 4 mg where we have been for quite awhile. It may be worth the benefit to give a steady dose instead of the ups and downs of short-acting guanfacine. (just our experience of course).
If your pediatrician insists he take Intuniv, can't she arrange to get it covered for you by insurance?
Good luck -- your pediatrician is still wrong about the tenex, at any rate, but maybe it's moving your son down a better path with the intuniv. Who knows? Sheri on another thread said she got intuniv covered -- did you read that one?
Take care Jules -- oh I just remembered our psychiatrist had quite a few samples of intuniv to get difficult child almost all the way up to 4 mg. When I ran out (just recently) the psychiatrist had more samples to help me get through. He has samples of one and two mg doses. Sounds like the drug companies are really pushing the new Big Dog in town with free samples and now no one knows about little old tenex -- although it's use is virtually the same as clonidine.
Jo
